‘The Butler’ Tops Weekend to Cap Hollywood Summer Record

“Lee Daniels’ The Butler” led
ticket sales at U.S. and Canadian theaters for a third weekend
over the Labor Day holiday, as Hollywood wrapped up a record
summer season at the box office.

The Weinstein Co. film, based on the real-life story of a
White House servant, collected $20.2 million over four days,
researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said today in a statement.
That was enough to outdistance “One Direction: This Is Us,”
the concert documentary on the British boy band, in its debut.

The weekend’s $157 million haul, a record for Labor Day,
brought to a close Hollywood’s biggest summer ever. The season,
which runs from May through early September, accounts for 40
percent or more of annual ticket sales. Revenue rose 10 percent
to $4.71 billion from a year earlier, surpassing 2011’s high of
$4.4 billion, according to Hollywood.com. Attendance surged 6.6
percent despite notable failures such as “The Lone Ranger.”

“This has been a huge summer,” said Paul Dergarabedian,
president of Hollywood.com-Box Office, in an interview. “It’s
amazing, especially after coming off so many big-budget tent-pole flops.”

“The Butler,” starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey,
is based on the real-life story of Eugene Allen, who served
eight U.S. presidents. Made for an estimated $30 million, it has
collected $79.5 million since Aug. 16, according to researcher
Box Office Mojo.

Boy Band

“This Is Us,” which led the weekend through Sept. 1,
generated $18.5 million to take second place for Sony Corp. (6758) The
movie, made for an estimated $10 million, was projected to take
$22 million in its first four days, according to Boxoffice.com.

About the popular band mentored by pop impresario Simon Cowell, “One Direction” follows Harry Styles, Niall Horan,
Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne on a 150-date world
tour. Tracing the boys’ hometown beginnings, it’s a mix of live
concert footage with behind-the-scenes shots.

Surprise hit “We’re the Millers” finished in third with
$16.3 million, for a total of $113.2 million since Aug. 7. It
was made for an estimated $37 million, according to Box Office
Mojo.

Bankable sequels like “Iron Man 3,” “Despicable Me 2”
and “Fast & Furious 6” contributed to the summer record. The
animated “Despicable Me 2,” made for $76 million, has
collected $355.7 million in domestic theaters for Universal
Pictures since July 3, according to Box Office Mojo -- second
only to Walt Disney Co.’s latest “Iron Man” installment, which
has taken $408.9 million, among releases this year.

‘Increasingly Bigger’

“The biggest films are getting increasingly bigger and the
vulnerability for everyone else is growing,” Christopher
Meledandri, producer of “Despicable Me 2,” said in an
interview.

“Fast & Furious 6,” the latest of the car-chase sagas,
has generated $238.7 million domestically.

Studios typically split box-office revenue with theater
owners, then collect additional home-video revenue from DVD
sales, cable-channel play and on-demand viewing. After
production and marketing costs, few movies make back their
investment while in theaters.

Summer Flops

This summer, some big-budget movies flopped, including
Johnny Depp’s “The Lone Ranger” and Sony’s “After Earth”
with Will Smith. Studios may be more selective in the future
about releasing expensive movies that aren’t sequels,
Dergarabedian said.

“The Lone Ranger,” made for about $225 million, has
generated $88.4 million domestically. Disney, based in Burbank,
California, will record a loss of as much as $190 million on the
film this quarter. “After Earth, made for $130 million
according to Box Office Mojo, has collected $60.5 million in the
U.S. for Sony.

‘‘There were enough hits to more than offset the misses,’’
said Dergarabedian. ‘‘Even the films that didn’t meet
expectations contributed to this record total.’’

Among the weekend’s other new releases, ‘‘Instructions Not
Included’’ from Pantelion Films and Lions Gate Entertainment
Corp. (LGF), took in $10.4 million for fifth place, in the biggest
opening for a Spanish-language film in North America, according
to Hollywood.com. ‘‘Getaway,’’ a release from Warner Bros.
starring Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez, took in $5.6 million for
10th place.

Attendance Drop

Weekend revenue for the top 12 films rose 9.9 percent to
$120.4 million over four days from the year-earlier period,
Hollywood.com said. Attendance year to date is down 2.3 percent,
while revenue has risen 1 percent to $7.69 billion.

The following table has U.S. movie box-office figures
provided by studios to Hollywood.com Box-Office. The amounts are
based on gross ticket sales on Aug. 30-Sept. 2.